‘He’s been damaging Mr Chambers’s car,’ she said.
‘That’s you, is it?’ Vine turned to Mark.
‘Yes.’
‘And he’s been damaging your car? In what way, precisely?’
‘Several nasty gouges in the paintwork,’ Mark said, marking the points off on his finger. ‘The windscreen was cracked once, had words scratched into it another time. The radio was ripped out twice and left beside the car, smashed to pieces. Wing mirrors ripped off, causing damage to the holding plates. Exhaust blocked with a potato.’
‘And this boy did all that?’
‘Mmmm. We weren’t sure at first, but I actually saw him slashing a tyre this morning, and when we confronted him he admitted being responsible for the other damage.’
‘What punishment did he receive?’
‘Well, none, actually. We said we wouldn’t take it any further if he promised to stop.’
‘And did he?’
‘Not exactly, no. He, er, said that if he knew how to cut the brakes, he’d do that, too.’
West perked up. A twisted care-home kid on the rampage. This was more like it!
‘Did he say why he’d done it?’ he cut in. ‘I imagine he must have been pretty upset to say something like that?’
Dandi’s knuckles whitened. It wasn’t lost on West. He peered at her expectantly.
‘There was a situation some time ago,’ she explained reluctantly. ‘Certain allegations were made against Mr Chambers by an ex-resident. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that Harry knew about it until this morning. If we had, we’d have taken steps to counsel him.’
‘So it’s revenge,’ West mused. ‘He’s paying your Mr Chambers back for whatever he did.’
‘I didn’t do anything,’ Mark interjected huffily. ‘It was all a terrible mistake, and the inquiry exonerated me.’
‘Absolutely,’ added Dandi, giving Mark a loyal smile.
‘Could I ask the nature of the complaint?’ Vine asked politely.
‘Is this really relevant?’ Dandi was reluctant to get into the details. ‘Mr Chambers was officially cleared.’
‘By us?’ West asked.
‘No.’ Dandi gazed down at her tangled fingers. ‘It was never a criminal matter. The board of directors dealt with it internally.’
‘And I take it the complainant wasn’t too happy with the outcome?’
‘You could say that.’
‘I’m sorry to delve into areas you’re clearly uncomfortable with,’ Vine said. ‘But it could help give us a clearer understanding of Harry’s state of mind. This matter appears to have affected him quite badly.’
‘A girl accused me of assault,’ Mark said, fed up with all the beating around the bush.
‘Assault?’ West pounced. ‘What are we talking here? Verbal, physical?’
‘Sexual,’ Mark admitted, sighing wearily. ‘It absolutely wasn’t true, but she was convinced otherwise.’
‘And it never came to us?’ West peered at the care workers disbelievingly. ‘I’d say that was a matter for criminal investigation.’
‘The girl had been drinking excessively on the night in question,’ Dandi explained. ‘And she left it a year before reporting it. There was no evidence, no witnesses, and, to be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure what she actually remembered as opposed to what she had imagined.’
‘In your opinion?’
Dandi’s nostrils flared with irritation. ‘In the Board’s opinion.’
‘I’d like to speak to this girl.’ West took his notepad from his pocket and flipped it open. ‘What’s her name and address?’
‘Sarah Mullen. But I’m afraid I can’t tell you where she lives. We’ve had no contact with her since she left.’
West frowned deeply as he rolled the name over in his mind. Sarah Mullen . . . It couldn’t be the same one, could it? But it must be. Starlight! He’d thought the name was stupid when he’d heard that was where the girl had been taken.
‘This Sarah,’ he said. ‘She come to you when she was little?’
‘Yes, she was seven.’
‘Stabbed her mother?’
‘Yes. But I don’t see what this has got to do with anything.’
‘I removed her from the house, that’s all.’
‘Do you think that’s where Harry might have gone?’ Vine asked. ‘To see this Sarah?’
‘I really couldn’t say,’ Dandi murmured. ‘We didn’t even know they were friends until this morning.’
‘What happened this morning?’
‘He received a letter from her, and told us about it thinking we already knew.’
‘Did you see it?’ West asked. ‘Maybe you’d remember the address?’
‘I’m afraid it didn’t occur to me to ask to see it.’
‘Maybe we should take a look around his room,’ Vine suggested, standing up. ‘He probably took it with him, but it’s worth a try.’
Going up ahead of the others, Mark told Ollie to go in with Vinnie and Pete so that the police could search the room. Ollie started to object, but Mark shot him down with a look.
‘Just hurry up. I’ll tell them to give you a minute to get dressed.’
Leaping from the bed, Ollie retrieved his stash of dope from the wardrobe and his cigarettes, skins and roaches from the bedside drawer. Hiding them in his quilt, he carried it out right under the noses of the uniforms.
‘What’s going on?’ Vinnie asked when Ollie came into the room.
‘Mongo’s done one,’ Ollie told him, laying his bedding down on the floor. ‘Shit, man, that was close! I nearly got busted. I only just managed to get all my shit together. D’y’ think they’d notice if I skinned up?’
‘Behave, you mad bastard!’ Pete was awake now, and not in the best of moods. ‘They’re only next door! What they doing, anyhow?’
‘Searching his shit.’
‘What for?’
‘Dunno.’ Ollie shrugged, lighting a straight instead. ‘They’re probably trying to suss where he’s gone. But he ain’t got any friends, so he’s probably face down in some canal by now.’
Vinnie narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly where Harry Shaw had gone. The lying little turd had gone to Sarah. He would rip his ugly, scheming little head off when he got hold of him!
‘Which side is Harry’s?’ West asked, looking at the identical chests of drawers and wardrobes.
‘The tidy side.’ Dandi waved her hand.
‘Thanks.’ Smiling, Vine motioned her and Mark out. ‘We’ll let you know if we find anything.’ Closing the door after them, he turned to West, asking quietly, ‘What do you make of it?’
‘Something’s not right,’ West said, his own voice low.
Vine’s eyebrows twitched in silent agreement. There did seem to be something fishy going on. An allegation of rape should never have been suppressed by officials connected to the home where the alleged attacker worked.
Squatting down, he pulled open the bottom dresser drawer and poked through the neatly folded trousers stacked inside.
Shaking his head at the backwards way Vine worked – whoever started at the bottom and worked their way up? – West opened the wardrobe and raised an eyebrow at the unnaturally neat line of shirts on the hangers. Finding nothing among them, he reached up to swipe his hand across the top. It was clear.
Dusting his hands on his trousers, he moved to the bed, lifting the mattress and leaning it against the wall. That was when he saw the slit in the material of the bed base.
Slipping his arm inside, West groped blindly with his fingers, grimacing at the dust balls and bits of squishy stuff he didn’t even want to guess at. He was about to withdraw when he felt something hard and flat. Drawing it out, he blew the dust off it. It was a five-year diary. Two photographs fell out when he opened it. Picking them up, he whistled through his teeth.
‘What is it?’ Vine asked, leaving what he was doing to come and have a look.
‘Sarah Mullen.’ West showed him the first photo. �
�All grown up, and twice as nice. She was seven last time I saw her, but you could tell she was going to be pretty even then.’
‘She’s lovely,’ Vine agreed. ‘Striking eyes.’
‘Aren’t they? I wonder how old she is there.’
‘Fourteen or fifteen, I’d say. What’s the other one?’
‘Don’t know.’ West looked at the pretty, somewhat sulky-looking woman. ‘Mother?’
‘Doesn’t look much like the boy. What’s the book?’
‘Diary.’ West flipped through the pages. Stopping midway, he read a bit, then said, ‘Here, listen to this. “Dreamed about her again. She was on a swing, laughing, but she couldn’t hear me or see me. I really, really miss her and just want to see her. I’ve got to get out of here!”’ Pausing, he looked at Vine, one eyebrow raised. ‘Sounds like he’s been planning a breakout for some time.’
‘Sounds bloody unhappy,’ Vine commented. ‘Let’s have a look.’
Speed-scanning several pages, he saw that it was all pretty much the same. Harry hated being in the home without Sarah, and particularly despised Mark Chambers. He also mentioned being bullied, and the anguish it had caused him. Wishing the bullies and Mark Chambers dead was a recurrent theme throughout.
It saddened him that an eleven-year-old boy should have suffered so much. In the supposedly safe environment of a children’s home, he should have been learning to get over the traumatic circumstances surrounding his placement here, not having to deal with fresh abuse.
‘Find anything?’ Dandi popped her head around the door.
Surreptitiously pocketing the diary, Vine shook his head. ‘Just these.’ He showed her the photographs. ‘Do you know who they are?’
‘This is Sarah.’ Dandi smiled fondly. ‘It’s one of her school pictures. Year ten, I think. I don’t know who the other one is, but I’ve a feeling it’s probably Harry’s mother. He adored her.’
‘Dead?’
‘I wouldn’t know,’ Dandi admitted. ‘There’s been no contact from her. Harry was taken away on an absolute protection order. No visits – supervised or otherwise.’
‘Would you have her name, or a contact address?’
‘There are a few details in his file. Would you like me to look it up?’
‘If you would. We’re almost finished. We’ll be down in a minute.’
Going through the last drawer when she had gone, Vine was about to conclude the search when he detected something slightly different about one of the pairs of socks at the back of the drawer. It could have been just the roughness of over-washed towelling, but he pulled them out to check.
‘Bingo!’ He grinned, extracting the letter and unrolling it. ‘Flat five, 226 Demesne Road.’
‘Gone back to her roots,’ West commented, taking the letter and scanning it. ‘This is directly across the park from where her mum lived. Funny how blood will out, isn’t it? You can take the kid out of the shit, and all that.’
‘Bit harsh,’ Vine said, sure that a child as good-looking as Sarah Mullen, with such an extraordinarily direct gaze, couldn’t be a hopeless case.
‘Maybe,’ West conceded, hoping that Vine was right. It would be a tragic waste if she had rushed headlong back into the life he had rescued her from. ‘Let’s go check her out before we jump to conclusions, eh?’
When they got back to the office, Dandi gave them Harry’s mother’s last known address, and Sarah’s bank account details.
‘We opened it the week before she left,’ Dandi said. ‘I imagine she’ll have updated her details – with them, if not us. It might help.’
Climbing into the car, West grinned as they set off, amused by the underhanded behaviour of his normally by-the-book-or-die partner. Vine had not only pocketed the lad’s diary, he hadn’t mentioned to Dandi that they had found Sarah’s letter, either.
Vine shrugged when he questioned him about it.
‘Under the circumstances, I thought it might be better to speak to the girl without them knowing where she was. And as for the diary, I’ve a feeling that the lad’s going to find it hard enough when he’s brought back without everyone knowing what he really thinks of them.’
‘Should have just put it back,’ West said, heading towards Moss Side. ‘He’ll think they’ve got it anyway when he realizes it’s missing.’
‘Maybe. Better him thinking that, though, than them searching after we’ve gone and really finding it.’
West tipped his head in agreement. Maybe Vine wasn’t as thick as he made out, after all.
17
Dave recognized the rapping as a copper knock. Peeping through the curtain, he saw the uniforms on the doorstep and kissed his teeth. Whatever they were after, at least it wasn’t a raid or his door would have been booted onto his bed by now.
Kicking a path through the overexcited dogs, he went into the hall and yelled ‘Five-O!’ into the air before opening the front door.
‘Someone need warning, did they?’ West hawked up and spat into the yard.
Unimpressed, Dave said, ‘What d’y’ want?’
‘Girl from flat five,’ Vine told him. ‘Don’t suppose you’d know if she’s in?’
‘Nope.’
‘Go and look for ourselves, shall we?’ West pushed past into the hall. ‘Upstairs, is it?’
‘Suss it out,’ Dave muttered, going back into his flat and slamming the door.
‘Charming.’ Vine shook his head as he followed West up the stairs.
There was no answer from flat five, but West knocked several times, just in case. It was late, after all. She might be sleeping. He gave up after a few minutes. There was no light beneath the door, and it was silent within – although it was difficult to tell with the music blaring up from the floor below.
Going down a flight, he hammered on the door of number four where the offending racket was coming from. Getting no answer, he cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, ‘POLICE! OPEN UP!’ The volume dropped several degrees immediately and seconds later the door creaked open an inch.
‘Yeah?’ Tony peered out at them.
Taking in the too-wide eyes and the tongue flicking lizard-like in and out of the mouth, West sussed he was looking at a full-blown speedfreak.
‘Keep that down.’ He nodded through the door. ‘It’s a contravention of the Human Rights Act, playing garbage like that at this time of night.’
‘Someone complained?’ Tony gabbled. ‘They should’ve come and said something to me before calling you out. I’m not a complete cunt, you know.’
‘No one’s complained,’ Vine said.
‘Yet!’ added West.
‘We’re looking for one of your neighbours,’ Vine went on. ‘Girl from number five. Do you know where she might be?’
‘Don’t know her. Never saw her. Done something wrong, has she?’
‘You wouldn’t know if she’s had a young lad round here today? Red hair. Small.’
‘Don’t know. No idea. That it?’
West said, ‘Yeah, thanks for your—’ the door was already shut ‘—help,’ he finished.
Number three didn’t answer. Going back down to the ground floor, West rapped on John’s door.
‘Yeah?’ John came out into the hall, pulling the door shut behind him. ‘What’s up?’
West sussed him as a junkie even though he could barely see his eyes through the hair hanging over his face. It was clear to see in the stooped stance, plain to hear in the slow drawl.
‘Girl in flat five,’ he said. ‘Know where she is tonight?’
‘She not in?’
‘We didn’t get any answer. Have you seen her today?’
‘Nah, man.’ John shook his head slowly. ‘She’s probably asleep.’
Or nodding out, like you! West thought, wondering if Sarah had succumbed to the influences she was living close to. Very likely, statistically speaking, but he hoped not. He hoped the spark of something extra that he’d seen in her as a child had sustained her and was lifting her above it all.
>
‘Would you know if she’s had a young boy with her today?’ Vine asked. ‘Red hair. Small. Eleven years old?’
John folded his arms and pursed his lips, frowning thoughtfully. ‘Nah. I haven’t seen no one like that.’
‘You sure?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Have you seen the girl today?’
‘Don’t think so.’
‘If you had,’ said West, ‘would you say that she looked different from usual? Like she had something on her mind, say?’
John didn’t fall for it. He was stoned, but not half as much as he was making out. ‘Nah, man, I’d say she looked her usual too-good-to-talk-to-the-likes-of-me self. But I haven’t seen her, straight up. She could be working, or something.’
‘Don’t suppose you’d know where?’
‘Nah.’
‘Regular little drug den,’ Vine mused when they left the house. ‘Should we set up a bust?’
‘No point,’ West said, wondering what planet Vine was from. ‘They’ll be registered addicts. That’s their usual get-out.’
‘Where to now?’ Vine asked, following West back to the car.
‘Her letter said she was working at a massage parlour in town, so we’re going to check some out. You ever been to one?’
‘Never.’
‘You, my friend,’ West drawled, ‘have not lived. Stick with me, kid. I’m gonna introduce you to the darker side of life.’
‘They didn’t know I was here, did they?’ Harry was wide-eyed with panic, his complexion sicklier than usual as he paced the floor in John’s dimly lit mess of a flat.
‘Chill,’ John said, sitting down in front of the fire to finish rolling the spliff he’d been making when the police knocked. ‘They had no clue.’
‘You don’t think that man with the dogs said anything?’ Harry went on, concerned because Dave had seen him coming down the stairs an hour earlier.
‘Him!’ John snorted. ‘He wouldn’t tell ’em the time.’
Sitting down heavily on the couch, Harry chewed his fingernails. Sarah was going to kill him. He’d really blown it this time. And he’d blown going back to Starlight as well. They’d send him into a secure unit for this. Running away was major, especially on top of all the stuff he’d done to Chambers’s car.
Tainted Lives Page 19
